Richard Palmes

Richard Palmes was a Boston resident at the time of the Boston massacre in 1770. He was called as a witness by lawyer John Adams, who was representing the British soldiers, and he testified that he asked Captain Thomas Preston if he intended to fire on the crowd; Preston said that this would be foolish, as he was standing in front of his men. He also testified that Preston had ordered his men to fire after the first shot. This discredited Robert Goddard's claim that Preston had ordered his men to fire (unprovoked) from behind his men.